I used to have an awesome WRX wagon. It was a great car, but it lost its life in an unfortunate encounter with a deer. I hate deer now. To replace the WRX, I ended up getting a Miata since I picked up a base model Impreza wagon to serve as the DD. The Miata is a 1994 R-package that I bought from a member on here(larimer). The car is pretty nice as it sits now, and the previous owner took good care of it, but of course, there is still room for improvement. The plan right now is to garage it all winter and then go to some events (auto-x and track days) and figure out what it needs most. I'd like to get some seat time in before I change much.

Anyway, here's the car. I went out for a quick shoot earlier today.






















Here's where the car sat at the time of purchase:

Engine:
Bell Engineering T3 manifold (Black ceramic coated)
Bell Engineering polished turbo heat shield
SR20DET T25 turbo Turbocharger .80 A/R compressor housing, .64 A/R turbine housing, .60 turbine trim (Black ceramic coated turbine housing)
Trackspeed Engineering Inconel turbo studs
SS oil feed line
Bell Engineering stainless 2.5” downpipe
Custom mandrel bent catless 2.5” exhaust
Magnaflow muffler
K&N filter
Bosch BOV
CXRacing intercooler. 28x5.5x2.5 w/ silicone couplers, T-bolt clamps
Flyin’ Miata Stage 1 clutch
RX7 460cc injectors
Toyota Coil On Plug (COP) conversion
Innovate LC1 Wideband O2
Megasquirt 2 full standalone EMS (built by Braineack - a guy who builds them on Miataturbo.net and does fantastic work)
Coolant reroute
MBC @ 10psi
Mazdaspeed engine mounts
Heat shielded brake reservoir & lines near turbo
GTX PCV valve

Suspension/Brakes:
FCM upper shock mounts and bump stops
FM frame rail braces
OEM R package Bilstein shocks
Ground control 450/300 coilovers
Racing beat solid front sway bar
Racing beat end links
Removed rear sway (will go with sale)
Stock wheels with Falken Azenis RT615 tires, road force balanced
Hawk HP+ brakes front and rear
Motul RBF600 brake and clutch fluid
Corner weighted before turbo parts added (2259 lbs with 2/3 tank of gas)

Interior:
Hard Dog hardcore hard top double diagonal roll bar w/high density foam padding and leather cover
Sparco Sprint V racing seats (driver’s bolted to floor, passenger’s on stock slider)
New black leather shift boot
Goodwin full replacement triple pod
Autometer Pro Comp Mech. Boost, Elect. Water temp, Elect. Oil Temp
LC1 wideband o2 gauge in vent
JVC CD player with AUX and USB inputs
Clearwater door speakers
Cruise control added (not available on R package)

Exterior:
Removed antenna and plugged with OEM plug
Removed rear “Miata” badge
OEM front and rear R package lips
Flyin’ Miata frame rail braces
E-code headlights
Removed baby teeth
2 year old Robbins zipperless plastic window top

Recent maintenance:
Stock Escort GT engine with around 50k miles with new gaskets & seals throughout
Timing belt, tensioner, & water pump
Accessory belts
VC gasket
CAS O-ring
Oil change w/Pennzoil Platinum 5w30 & Wix filter
OEM radiator & cap
Radiator hoses
Heater hoses
Redline fluids in trans and rear diff.
Both large and small shift boots replaced
Driver’s rear caliper replaced



So far, I've removed a bit of weight from it and replaced the Home Depot boost controller with the Hallman MBC that I had on my wrx. Weight reduction consisted of the removal of the non-functioning AC, the carpet in the trunk, the windshield washer reservoir and associated components, spare tire and jack, light weight battery that I had on the wrx, and a few metal things that served no apparent purpose. All in all, I've pulled about 60 pounds out of it, and none of it is stuff that I'll miss. I also ordered a Sparco Pro 2000 for the drivers side since the Sprint V's that the car came with were not at all intended for people with broad shoulders. Oh, and my friend put electrical tape on the headlights to give it "happy eyes". :/

The next thing that I would like to address is the wheel hop. With the weather cool like it is, the car spins through first and second, and it's not always smooth. Being used to awd, this is something that I've never had to deal with before. I assume the biggest contributor here is tired bushings. So, to those with experience, will swapping all of the rubber drivetrain bushings with urethane rectify this, or will I have to do more?

 

Since I like whoring out my photos, have a few more.

 

What's up with your black angles on the headlights?

Welcome.Clean. I :heart: racing seats with OEM steering wheel.

 

The black angles are just strips of electrical tape that one of my friends put there. Apparently they're called "happy eyes". They'll come off in a few days.

But thanks. I'm really happy with this car so far. It's a lot of fun for <6k.

 

Damn nice car.

 

That paint looks super nice! Jealous.

 

Yes that is a sharp ride.

 

The paint is in good shape for a 17 year old car. The photos hide the imperfections pretty well, but there are few dings, scratches, and chips. If I ever boss up and get fender flares, I'll probably have the front bumper, hood, and spoiler resprayed at the same time. I think the trunk had some scratches as well. In the mean time, I'll see how good I can make it look with touch up paint, clay, and some polish. I'd also like to have some paintless dent removal done, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to that.

 

My semester ended last night, and now I'm home for a nice lengthy winter break. That means that a few things should be happening with this car in the next few weeks.

First of all, my seat came in, and it fits me perfectly. I sat down last night and wouldn't budge until my GF said that she'd be waiting naked upstairs. This will hopefully make its way into the car today.


Next on the agenda will probably be something related to the headlights. I drove home most of the way with the high beams on so that I could spot black ice if any happened to be present. I already had an incident with the car going sideways when I hit a small patch of slush, even while going well below the speed limit. That plus highway speeds would be sketchy in a car that I'm not entirely familiar with yet. But anyway, the low beams really don't do much good. I'm thinking about making some quad bi-xenon projector 55w flush mount headlights. They'll take out some more weight, look cool, and throw out a hell of a lot more light, albeit a little bit lower. I'm pretty set on doing this, but before I start buying parts, I'll have to take some measurements and do some maths to make sure it is, indeed, a good idea.

 

armhair.jpg

 

Are you (hustler) the type of guy who would trim his arm/leg hair?

 

Hell no, I have genetic refinement on my side, bi-petal perfection.

 

OP's got broad shoulders.

 

Don't hate. I'm highly evolved--just not for warmer climates.

Installing that seat was more of a pain in the *** than I anticipated. Broad shoulders=broad seat=hard to cram into a Miata. Due to the width of the seat up top, and the bottom of it hitting the transmission tunnel, I had to bring it forward a little bit. This wasn't a bad thing, as I find the new position to be more comfortable than the last. Even with the seat coming forward, the base is pressed up against the trans tunnel and the upper bolster just barely clears the door. Getting it just right took longer than I anticipated, but the final result made it worthwhile.

 

Me too, but now the racing seats don't match. That is a shame, like unknowingly pouring a nice glass of mountain dew into a dirty glass with dried up milk at the bottom.

 

As nice as it would be to have matching seats, I can't justify the price now. At least they're the same brand and color.

 

NakedGF.jpg?

Nice car for sure.

 

Not love until she does ya in the Sparco. Hint to wife

 

I think I'll need a quick release wheel for that.


I took some measurements and the flush mount headlight project I mentioned earlier seems entirely feasible. A quad projector setup will be cost prohibitive if I use quality components, which I will, so I'll probably do things a bit differently. 55w 4300k HIDs in a quality bi-xenon projector should be plenty sufficient on their own for low beams and for high beams. In the interest of going all out, it's likely that I'll add a set of LED spot beams to supplement the high beams. These things are small enough to cleanly fit into the housings beside the projectors. In fact, they're smaller than the Hella 90mm projectors that most use for such projects. http://www.rigidindustries.com/Duall...twoduallys.htm

People probably don't do this often with Miatas, but I'm a Subaru guy at heart and us Subaru people love our lights. This is my WRX in winter mode--even equipped with the separate rally/winter bumper. I'll never come close to this in terms of light output in the Miata. I just want to end up with something that won't make me sad.


Now I just need to sell some junk on ebay so I can start ordering parts.

 

Driver's foglight missing why ?